Healthcare CIO’s need to reevaluate system integration strategies

With HITECH efforts being planned in hospitals across the nation, Healthcare CIO’s need to reevaluate system integration strategies. The challenge historically has been one of evolution where different vendor interface engines have been introduced over time. Each time a new system, application or module got introduced into the environment it often came with a preferred vendors engine for integration purposes. As long as it talked HL7 and could parse, transmit and interpret records it was generally deemed acceptable to not delay the project.

This model, however, has created hospital IT environments and staff that have to support, manage and upgrade these different vendor products. Now add in the HITECH mandate of system interoperability and the CIO is left with a more complex environment than desired. Healthcare CIO’s need to move to a “less is more” approach to integration by moving towards a single vendor product as a best practice. This will pay huge dividends for them in the future by allowing them to be agile & responsive to interoperability needs coming their way.